Hi Ann,​I am trying to get used to and good at using Google Drive. When I don't have any Internet connection, can I still get to the presentations and documents that I have created?​-Amanda O.

Great question! With our Internet connection (our local cable/Internet company has oversold and we are maxing out on our bandwidth on a daily basis) being in a sadly state the last few weeks, this has been a question on everyone's mind. While this has brought to light the fact that we definitely live in a digital world, it has also focused our attention on the things we take for granted and could probably live without. For example, "What am I supposed to do now?! All of my lesson plans are on Pinterest!" Or, "How am I going to play music while my students work if I can't access Pandora?" Hmmm . . . what did you do 5 years ago before any of these was even an option?? Obviously some connections are less necessary than others, but when it comes to accessing our legitimate "stuff," we want (need??) it when we need it!

The good news is that, YES, you can set Drive to be able to work offline. Go to drive.google.com, then click on settings from the "wheel" in the upper right-hand corner. Scroll down to where it shows that you can sync files for offline use, and be sure that it's clicked "on." From now on, once that's done, you will be able to work on files offline, and as soon as you reconnect to wi-fi, they will sync to be live again.

Another option is to download the Desktop version of Google Drive. With this very useful tool, you can add to, delete, or access files from Drive right on your computer, and they sync with your other devices — automatically. I love this for accessing my Google photos when need to up load them for projects in other programs or sites.